Activision hunting Warzone leaker, DMCAs Reddit to learn identity

Activision is hunting down the Reddit user who leaked out Call of Duty Warzone's artwork, and is using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to secure the leaker's personal info from Reddit.

Activision has filed a DMCA subpoena to Reddit in an attempt to unmask Assyrian2410, the Reddit user who revealed key art for the publisher's new Call of Duty Warzone battle royale.

As The Hollywood Reporter notes, sites like Reddit aren't held liable for copyright infringement from leaks as long as they take the content down and adhere to requests made by the copyright holders--in this case, Reddit is pressured to surrender the user's digital identifiable information.

The billion-dollar games-maker is aggressively seeking to pursue criminal charges against the leaker, which is somewhat uncharacteristic of the company. Then again, Warzone might be the biggest thing Activision has made in the last few years and represents a perfect culmination of its digital engagement-driven strengths, and is the result of millions of investment spending into new technology and services.

The following was taken from court documents filed in the Northern District Court of California:

"Activision, through its counsel of record, has submitted a sworn declaration confaming that the purpose for which the DMCA subpoena is sought is to obtain the identity of an alleged infringer, and that such information will only be used for the purpose of protecting Activision's rights under Title 17 U.S.C. SS100, et. seq.

"The DMCA Subpoena is directed to Reddit, Inc. ("Reddit"). Reddit is the service provider to which the subject of the subpoena- Reddit user "Assyrian2410" - posted infringing Activision content (the "Content").